Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, who recently scrubbed his site of anti-abortion rhetoric despite answering yes to all 10 of the National Pro-Life Alliance’s priorities when asked by the group if he would support them. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
MIAMI — After voters in Kansas made history by rejecting an anti-abortion referendum and Democrats won tough special elections in New York and Alaska, Republicans are feeling the pressure and trying to trick voters about their hardline anti-choice stances.
Across the country, in key battleground races in Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona, and North Carolina, Republican candidates are scrubbing abortion language from their campaign websites and twisting themselves into pretzels to avoid alienating voters while stumping on the trail.
Let’s play a fun game called “who scrubbed their website?”
Do you have proof that a GOP candidate or politician has recently changed their abortion stances on their media and websites? Drop it below! Let’s make sure voters in their districts know.
— Olivia Julianna 🗳 (@0liviajulianna) September 5, 2022
In Arizona, GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters removed language saying “I am 100% pro-life” and a line expressing his support for “a federal personhood law that recognizes that unborn babies are human beings that may not be killed.”
GOP ABORTION LANGUAGE SCRUB: Blake Masters removed language that said, "I am 100% pro-life.” House candidates Tom Barrett of Michigan, Christian Castelli in North Carolina and Barbara Kirkmeyer in Colorado removed similar language from their websites. https://t.co/WlmpJpI4aY
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) September 3, 2022
In Minnesota, the GOP nominee for governor watered down anti-abortion language on his website, removing lines such as “He believes in the sanctity of human life, from conception to natural death.”
The GOP gubernatorial candidate in Oregon, Christine Drazan, edited her website to minimize her stance against abortion after her Democratic opponent began airing ads on the issue.
Bo Hines, a Republican Congressional candidate in North Carolina, was similarly called out for erasing all mentions of abortion from his website, despite previously claiming he supported a “100% ban on abortion, no exceptions.”
This is rich. @BoHines has scrubbed all mention of his support for a ban on abortion from his website.
Before Dobbs, Bo was very clear: he supported a "100% ban on abortion, no exceptions." What happened? Is he pro-choice now? @bohines, can you clarify? #ncpol pic.twitter.com/acbkmcwmzh
— Carolina Forward (@ForwardCarolina) September 1, 2022
In my home state of Florida, Nick Diceglie, running for an open seat in Florida’s 18th Senate district, is also scrubbing anti-abortion views from his campaign website, and it appears that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has also edited his site—despite in the past answering yes to all 10 of the National Pro-Life Alliance’s priorities when asked by the group if he would support them.
A search on the wayback machine reveals how Republicans like Marco Rubio and Nick DiCeglie running in Florida’s Senate District 18 are scrubbing mentions of their anti-abortion views from their campaign websites. They know this is a losing issue so they’re trying to trick voters. pic.twitter.com/tFzQnKObXn
— Thomas Kennedy (@tomaskenn) September 5, 2022
Republicans know their extremist positions against abortion and reproductive rights are unpopular with voters, and now they are desperate to run away from the issue as they see their colleagues flounder in electoral contests across the state. They know their prospects in November have been greatly diminished by their unhinged attacks against basic civil rights and freedoms, and now they are disingenuously trying to trick voters by lying to them and misrepresenting their positions.
Don’t let these cynical liars get away with it. Call them out, and vote them out.
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Thomas Kennedy is an elected Democratic National Committee member from Florida. Twitter: @tomaskenn
